The ROI of Sustainability

1

The ROI of Sustainability
Making the Business Case

May 2009
Jhana Senxian, Cindy Jutras

The ROI of Sustainability: Making the Business Case
Page 2

Executive Summary
Far from being a philanthropic "nice to have," top performing organizations Research Benchmark
view sustainability as a "must have" strategy for long term business viability Aberdeen’s Research
and success. Sustainability brings together strategies to ensure optimal Benchmarks provide an in-
performance related to the business, the environment, and society. This depth and comprehensive look
report serves as a roadmap for those attempting to match environmental into process, procedure,
and social stewardship to clear, actionable, and measurable improvements methodologies, and
to their bottom lines – thus ensuring the sustainability of their business technologies with best practice
ecosystem. identification and actionable
recommendations.
Best-in-Class Performance
Aberdeen used six key performance criteria to distinguish Best-in-Class
companies, with top performers achieving 6% to 10% reduction in a variety
of costs while also making strides in retaining customers:
• 9% reduction in carbon footprint
"Sustainability initiatives reduce
• 6% reduction in energy costs our costs and strengthen our
company and brand image.
• 7% reduction in facilities costs Sustainability initiatives enable us
• 10% reduction in paper costs to develop new products that
better meet customer and
• 7% reduction in transportation / logistics costs societal needs and desires.
• 16% increase in customer retention Younger employees hold strong
environmental values and are
attracted to companies that
Competitive Maturity Assessment share these values. Our
Survey results show that the firms enjoying Best-in-Class performance sustainability strategy focuses on
the Triple Bottom Line – so we
shared several common characteristics:
have integrated our business
• The Best-in-Class are 52% more likely to incorporate sustainability sustainability goals with social
metrics into value chain performance management and environmental stewardship
goals. This has resonated
• 74% of the Best-in-Class have an organization-wide sustainability tremendously with customers
policy compared to 58% of all others and our employees, as well."
~ Chief Sustainability Officer,
Required Actions Large European Food and
Beverage Company
In addition to the specific recommendations in Chapter Three of this
report, to achieve Best-in-Class performance, companies must:
• Implement role-based dashboards to enable the streamlined and
user-friendly delivery of action items and consolidated views
• Incorporate sustainability metrics into corporate objectives and
measure to prove that the initiatives produce real business results

© 2009 Aberdeen Group. Telephone: 617 854 5200
www.aberdeen.com Fax: 617 723 7897

Page 3

Table of Contents
Executive Summary....................................................................................................... 2
Best-in-Class Performance..................................................................................... 2
Competitive Maturity Assessment....................................................................... 2
Required Actions...................................................................................................... 2
Chapter One: Benchmarking the Best-in-Class ..................................................... 4
Business Context ..................................................................................................... 4
The Maturity Class Framework............................................................................ 5
The Best-in-Class PACE Model ............................................................................ 6
Best-in-Class Strategies........................................................................................... 7
Challenges to Achieving Sustainability Business Benefit ................................. 9
Chapter Two: Benchmarking Requirements for Success ..................................12
Competitive Assessment......................................................................................14
Capabilities and Enablers......................................................................................15
Chapter Three: Required Actions .........................................................................21
Steps to Success for All Companies ..................................................................21
Laggard Steps to Success......................................................................................21
Industry Average Steps to Success ....................................................................22
Best-in-Class Steps to Success ............................................................................22
Appendix A: Research Methodology.....................................................................24
Appendix B: Related Aberdeen Research............................................................26

Figures
Figure 1: Top 3 Pressures Driving Sustainability Initiatives................................. 4
Figure 2: Sustainability's Role in Corporate Strategy............................................ 6
Figure 3: Top 3 Strategic Actions of Best-in-Class................................................ 8
Figure 4: Top Four Challenges Faced ....................................................................... 9
Figure 5: ROI Analysis Complete or Underway ..................................................10

Tables
Table 1: Top Performers Earn Best-in-Class Status.............................................. 5
Table 2: The Best-in-Class PACE Framework ....................................................... 7
Table 3: The Competitive Framework...................................................................14
Table 4: "No Plans to Invest" Vary by Maturity Class ........................................20
Table 5: The PACE Framework Key ......................................................................25
Table 6: The Competitive Framework Key ..........................................................25
Table 7: The Relationship Between PACE and the Competitive Framework
.........................................................................................................................................25


Page 4

Chapter One:
Benchmarking the Best-in-Class
Business Context
Fast Facts
Far from being a philanthropic “nice to have,” top performing organizations
view sustainability as a “must have” strategy for long-term business viability √ Best-in-Class are 52% more
and success. For 59% of the 200+ respondents to Aberdeen's survey for likely to use sustainability to
Sustainability Matters: The Corporate Executives Strategic Agenda, sustainability guide major portions of their
does or will soon guide major parts or the entirety of their corporate corporate strategy
strategy. Top performers excel at matching potentially hard to grasp √ Best-in-Class are 52% more
concepts like environmental and social stewardship to clear, actionable, and likely to incorporate
measurable improvements to their bottom lines. sustainability metrics into
value chain performance
The desire for social and environmental stewardship is the top pressure management
driving sustainability efforts (Figure 1). The connection between Corporate
Responsibility (CR) and sustainability is better understood when it is √ Best-in-Class managed to
realized that CR and stewardship represent a subset of activities that aligns reduce energy costs by 6%
with sustainable business success. The combination of a struggling economy, while Industry Average
experienced a 4% increase
a fast-changing and hyper-competitive market, and a myriad of
and Laggards increased by
environmental challenges creates the need for companies to be highly 18%
efficient, collaboratively integrated, and able to demonstrate superior levels
of CR. Sustainability entails a form of corporate self-regulation and √ Top performers managed a
transparency in adherence with laws, ethical standards, international norms, 16% increase in customer
and also awareness of the business value for positively impacting the retention rates while driving
sustainability-related costs
environment and society.
down by an average of
almost 8% across the board
Figure 1: Top 3 Pressures Driving Sustainability Initiatives
Desire for social and
environmental stewardship 56%

Increase or maintain
brand reputation / value 48%
"Our sustainability initiative has
Need for competitive advantage 46% taken over our corporate
business plan and informs our
Stakeholder pressure 29% annual strategic planning
process / goal setting."
Rising energy costs 22%
~ Partner, North American
Present or expected regulatory General Manufacturer
22%
compliance mandates

0% 20% 40% 60%

Percentage of All Respondents

Source: Aberdeen Group, May 2009

Almost half of survey respondents see a correlation between sustainability
and their competitive positioning, either through enhancing reputation and
brand value or by being proactive regarding stakeholder and regulatory


Page 5

expectations and mandates. The emergence and evolution of regulatory Glossary of Key Terms
mandates in a growing number of geographies related to the trade, Sustainability brings together
reporting, and / or disclosure of green house gases (GHGs) for example, social, environmental, and
increase the need to treat sustainability and CR as a central component of economic goals with the
businesses’ long-term viability and license to operate. intention of ensuring that the
needs of the present are met
Reaction to volatile energy costs also adds to the pressures driving the without compromising the
sustainability agenda. Both in business and at the consumer level, such things ability to meet the needs of the
as ensuring that the firm utilizes resources in a highly efficient manner and future. The long-term viability
engages ethically with communities near and far become all the more critical and prosperity of the business
when corporate wallets feel the impact of such factors as wasteful practices ecosystem depend on the long-
or public censure. The improved ability to connect with clients in a manner term viability and prosperity of
that increases customer loyalty decisively transitions sustainability strategy the social and environmental
from a "feel good" public relations effort into a market necessity. ecosystems.
Corporate Responsibility
(CR) posits that firms have a
The Maturity Class Framework
responsibility to be social and
While the overall goal of successful sustainability efforts will be to reduce environmental stewards and
energy related expenses, to do so at the expense of the customer does not that having a positive impact on
signal responsible action. Customers vote with their wallets. Therefore society and the planet is as
these cost reductions are tempered with a company's ability to retain important as profit.
customers. Triple Bottom Line (TBL)
determines that a business has
Table 1: Top Performers Earn Best-in-Class Status positive impacts on the three P's
(people, profit, and planet) and
Definition of is a standard framework for CR
Mean Class Performance agendas.
Maturity Class
9% reduction in carbon footprint Millennium Development
6% reduction in energy costs Goals (MDGs) are eight goals
Best-in-Class:
agreed upon by every country in
Top 20% 7% reduction in facilities costs
the world and leading
of aggregate 10% reduction in paper costs development institutions that
performance scorers 7% reduction in transportation / logistics costs form a blueprint to combat
16% increase in customer retention global poverty. Many companies
6% reduction in carbon footprint have aligned their TBL strategies
to address one or more of the
Industry Average: Increase in energy costs contained to 4%
MDGs.
Middle 50% 1% reduction in facilities costs
of aggregate 5% reduction in paper costs Green refers to practices,
performance scorers processes, and products that
1% reduction in transportation / logistics costs have a minimal impact on the
5% increase in customer retention health of the environmental
5% increase in carbon footprint ecosystem. The emphasis is on
18% increase in energy costs non-hazardous, recyclable,
Laggard:
reusable, and energy efficient
Bottom 30% 18% increase in facilities costs
products and processes.
of aggregate 12% increase in paper costs
performance scorers 19% increase in transportation / logistics costs
4% increase in customer retention


Page 6

For many companies, the overall goal of a successful sustainability strategy is
to improve operational efficiencies and brand value, as well as social and
environmental performance. As illustrated in Figure 2, while sustainability
guides the entire strategy of just below 20% of respondents, the Best-in-
Class are 52% more likely than all others to use sustainability to guide major
portions of their corporate strategy. Figure 2 also provides insight into the
way in which organizations embrace sustainability initiatives, whether they
are integrated with or separate from overall corporate strategies.

Figure 2: Sustainability's Role in Corporate Strategy

41% "We have extensive plans and
Guides major parts
27% some of them are laid out in our
first sustainability report. In
22%
Guides minor parts general, we have been reporting
21%
emissions from our main US
19% factory for years and are always
Guides the entirety
19% trying to reduce our greenhouse
gas emissions as well as to ensure
7%
Will be a major part the safety of the environment
11%
through the use of our products.
7% Our products are used in animal
Is a separate initiative
13% agriculture and, when used
properly, they reduce
4% Best-in-Class
Will be a minor part environmental load generated by
8% All Others
the animal livestock industry. We
0% 25% 50%
are a global company and make
Percentage of Respondents
an effort to minimize
transportation miles by combining
Source: Aberdeen Group, May 2009 loads and optimizing delivery
routes. Board-level support for
The Best-in-Class PACE Model the ROI is required for major
capital initiatives.”
To achieve sustainability goals, companies must use a combination of
strategic actions, organizational capabilities, and enabling technologies that ~ Director, Mid-sized North
can be summarized as follows: American Agricultural Input
Provider
• Incorporate sustainability criteria into business improvement
programs
• Establish an executive-level champion responsible for enterprise-
wide sustainability initiatives
• Incorporate sustainability metrics into corporate objectives and
measure to prove these initiatives produce real business results


Page 7

Table 2: The Best-in-Class PACE Framework
Pressures Actions Capabilities Enablers
Desire for social Incorporate Sustainability criteria has been integrated Traceability solutions
and environmental sustainability into business process improvement Performance Management
stewardship metrics for value programs (i.e. Lean, Six Sigma) Applications
chain performance Executive-level leader is responsible for Business Intelligence
management company-wide sustainability initiatives platform and tools
Adopt or expand Real-time visibility into sustainability Quality / Process
sustainable / conformance across value chain Management applications
responsible / ethical Third-party verification of sustainability On-line, real-time
procurement and or Corporate Responsibility performance dashboards
sourcing strategy

Yet, despite the compelling array of drivers and benefits of well-conceived
and managed sustainability strategy, for 46% of companies surveyed, budget
challenges remain an impediment to sustainability initiatives and 42% still find "At our company, we interact
it difficult to demonstrate quantified business value and Return on with several thousand farmers
Investment (ROI) in order to effectively make the business case for directly world-wide and have
sustainability. So, though the rate of adoption of sustainability strategy implemented sustainable farming
increases, the need for companies to monitor, measure, and communicate practices to guarantee food
how sustainability impacts their performance on various levels is even more safety, quality assurance and
urgent. competitively ensured supply to
our food factories over many
decades. The sourcing of
Best-in-Class Strategies agricultural materials is key to
While the dominant business driver behind sustainability initiatives is the our business. Therefore a number
overall desire to preserve the environment and demonstrate responsible of activities have been initiated
social stewardship (i.e. demonstrating Corporate Responsibility), companies with suppliers to adhere to
changing practices and processes.
must make a strong business case in order justify corporate commitment.
This has resulted in not only a
Gone are the days when pretty pictures in the annual report were enough. better operational performance,
A growing number of companies must provide verifiable evidence of but also a more relevant and
mitigated social and environmental impacts. Yet, in order to justify the beneficial communication with
continued application of resources, companies must also demonstrate real our consumers / customers."
business results. The Best-in-Class are 52% more likely to incorporate
~ Chief Environmental Officer,
sustainability metrics into the measurement of performance of the entire
Large European Food and
value chain (Figure 3). This is often combined with sustainable sourcing Beverage Manufacturer
strategies, focusing not only within their own four walls but encouraging, or
even demanding suppliers demonstrate sustainable / responsible / ethical
practices.


Page 8

Figure 3: Top 3 Strategic Actions of Best-in-Class

Incorporate sustainability metrics for 44%
value chain performance management "Integrating and modernizing our
29%
supply chains offers us
Adopt or expand sustainable 37% opportunities to reduce wastage
sourcing strategy 39% (...in some cases, 30% plus) from
Implement staff collaboration / 33% farm to fork, and allows us to
education initiatives 39% offer farmers and fishermen more
Implement customer remunerative prices while
33%
collaboration initiatives 15% charging consumers less. My
Best-in-Class
company's CR programs include
Redesign product strategy to 30%
All Others
livelihood support for fishermen
align with sustainability goals 25%
affected by the tsunami in
Adopt carbon footprint / 30% Southern India (by donating
emissions reduction plan 37% fishing boats and equipment, and
setting up modern fish auction
0% 25% 50%
centers on the East and West
coasts of India, training sheep
Source: Aberdeen Group, May 2009 farmers to produce better quality
Few would argue the value of a brand being associated with not only quality sheep and realize better prices,
products or services, but also with quality behavior and relationships. training farmers to grade and
package their products in ways
However, too many companies focus sustainability efforts on benefits that
that reduce spoilage during
are not measured at all, are measured inconsistently, or not communicated. transportation, etc.) We have
As a result, the positive impact of sustainability initiatives on the efficiency, trained fishermen to clean their
quality, and resilience of a company is often only anecdotally understood fish holding tanks, thereby
while the work of making the business case in quantitative as well as reducing the percentage of the
qualitative terms is unevenly attended to. catch that is spoilt at the time of
landing (due to bacterial
Successful sustainability efforts often require a change in corporate culture contamination from previous
and values. This type of re-direction of thinking doesn't happen catches). Also, setting up modern
automatically, nor does it happen overnight. Education of staff is critical and fish auction centers with the
collaboration is encouraged as efforts to reduce energy consumption and provision of ice-flaking machines
cost in one area of the company must not cause increased cost or and a modern cold chain has
consumption elsewhere in the enterprise or in the value chain. Top improved fish yields. Similar
performers take a more holistic view of their value chain. It is therefore not successes have been achieved
surprising to see that the Best-in-Class are more than twice as likely to with farm products through
grading, better handling and the
collaborate not only with suppliers, but with customers as well.
use of cold chains. Other
This would indeed have an impact on the product development cycle. Those examples include upgrading
not Best-in-Class would be well advised to follow the lead of our top government infrastructure,
performers. All others are 48% more likely to manage their carbon training sheep and goat farmers,
vaccinating sheep etc."
footprint and emissions after the fact than they are to redesign product
strategy with these goals in mind. The Best-in-Class place equal importance ~ Director, Large Indian Food
on both. Wholesaler

The business case for sustainability is amply made as exhibited by the results
of top performing companies who are increasingly focused on a holistic,
lifecycle approach with thoroughly quantified business, environmental, and
social returns. Implementing an effective sustainability strategy involves
multiple steps, processes, and an intensive attention on measurement and
communication. This shift in focus results in a more agile, efficient, and

Page 9

resilient organization that increases quality and performance and attracts the
support and loyalty of stakeholders and customers alike. Sustainability
represents, in and of itself, a profound shift in global business paradigms,
systems of value, and models (and opportunities) of success.
Challenges to Achieving Sustainability Business Benefit
Most companies do face challenges in sustaining sustainability efforts (Figure
4). The top two challenges go hand-in-hand. Without a clear understanding
of ROI, justifying expenditures in the promotion of sustainability is that
much more difficult. However, Aberdeen data show that the difficulty in
demonstrating the ROI of sustainability is often more a matter of
inefficiency and inactivity around tracking, measuring, and communicating
sustainability progress, successes, challenges, and areas of opportunity.
When asked how company investments in technology (in support of "We have customers impose
sustainability initiatives) have paid off, on average 52% of Laggard firms ‘green’ programs on us and this
claimed that they did not know, a clear indication of a lack of performance is becoming a standard in our
management and communication practices that encompass both qualitative industry. The generation of
and quantitative analysis and engagement. ideas about how to affect the
3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle)
Figure 4: Top Four Challenges Faced is important to us and creates
innovative approaches to
tackling these issues. We have
Budget challenges 46% to meet or exceed industry
standards in order to stay
competitive."
Difficult to demonstrate ROI 42%
~ Engineer, Mid-size Computer
Fear of disrupting present
Company
business processes 22%

Lack of knowledge 22%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Conflation
These top four challenges get right at the heart of the issue that persists for
organizations with implemented sustainability agendas. Because sustainability Conflation occurs when the
is often conflated with Corporate Responsibility, many organizations persist identities of two or more
in viewing sustainability as a largely philanthropic and costly initiative that concepts sharing some
delivers “soft” benefits and “intangible” outcomes. This misperception is characteristics of one another
aided and abetted by the fact that terms like green, sustainability, and CR (in this case sustainability and
Corporate Responsibility)
are used to connote a wide variety of meanings and intentions without a
become confused until there
clear sense of how business efficiency and success fits into the seems to be only a single
responsibility-framed picture. In short, organizations need the concrete identity — the differences
benefits of sustainability initiatives spelled out in clear terms that connect appear to become lost. By
back to business needs. No less importantly, they also need actionable steps conflating sustainability and
to measure and communicate their performance, internally and externally. CR, the importance of the
Not understanding… business impact is often lost
or forgotten.
• if a quantifiable business case even exists for sustainability

Page 10

• how sustainability answers key business pressures
• what the vendor landscape looks like for solutions and services
• how to get started
…remains a major impediment to successful action. In fact, it is important
to note that the Best-in-Class have a better grasp of the business case and
are advantaged by being more advanced in their understanding of
sustainability's ROI. They are 30% less likely than all others to say that they
are facing budget issues in support of their initiatives.
This study included a group of companies without sustainability initiatives
that nonetheless expressed an interest in the topic. While they did not
complete the main survey, they were asked a series of questions, including
one which asked them why they did not yet have sustainability initiatives. At
the top of the list was the inability to make the business case or to
demonstrate ROI (44%). And yet, 56% of these companies also indicated a
demonstrated ability to lower costs or increase profits would provide
sufficient incentives to adopt sustainability initiatives, second only to
contribution to creating a competitive advantage (68%).
This again underscores the conceptual gap between trendy rhetoric and the
reality of the volatile, global market where the sustainability of the business
ecosystem is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the social and
environmental ecosystems on which it depends for not only prosperity, but
also survival. Sustainability lends a competitive edge that delivers impressive,
quantified business results.
Aberdeen Insights — Strategy

The ROI of sustainability can come from many different sources, some
more easily quantified than others. Certainly, the specific cost reductions
included in our Best-in-Class criteria are metrics that every socially
responsible company can measure – and the rate of customer retention is
a metric that every company should measure. Yet more than half of even
our top performing companies has yet to subject sustainability initiatives
to the same level of scrutiny they might to other investments (Figure 5).
Figure 5: ROI Analysis Complete or Underway

50% 44%
39%
40%
33%
30%

20%

10%

0%
Best-in-Class Average Laggard

continued


Page 11

Aberdeen Insights — Strategy

Is this because they expect the benefits without any investment? If planned
investment in software solutions to support sustainability efforts is any
indication (and surely it is), the data indicate that this is not the case. In
fact the majority of all survey respondents (87%) do indeed plan to invest
and the Best-in-Class plan to invest 33% more than all others in software
solutions and / or services to support their efforts. The planned
investments are not insignificant, ranging from the average Laggard that
plans to spend approximately $650,000 to the average Best-in-Class
company that plans to invest more than $1.4 million. If viewed only from a
cost perspective, these figures alone might serve as a deterrent to
investing in sustainability, therefore making the estimation of ROI to cost
justify initiatives that much more important.
Past Aberdeen research has found that two elements of ROI calculation
are required to produce optimal results. Using ROI estimates in order to
cost justify a project sets the stage but it is also important to follow up
and measure the actual ROI at various milestones – and once a specific
project is completed. In fact, in managing the ROI of enterprise
applications in general, those who combine these two steps in the process
produce as much as double the business gain in targeted metrics.
Sustainability should be approached with a similar level of commitment
that tracks, quantifies, and communicates changes in organization-wide
performance and achieved business benefit.

In the next chapter, we will see what the top performers are doing to
achieve these gains.


Page 12

Chapter Two:
Benchmarking Requirements for Success
Based on the findings in the Competitive Framework and interviews with Fast Facts
end-users, Aberdeen’s analysis reveals that the Best-in-Class goal of √ 74% of the Best-in-Class
achieving environmental and social stewardship is realized via company-wide have organization-wide
policy regarding relations with partners and customers, product and service sustainability policy,
development strategy, and day-to-day operational performance management compared to 58% of all
and optimization. others

Case Study: The Dow Chemical Company √ 67% of Best-in-Class have
formalized staff education
The Dow Chemical Company is a global leader in agricultural products, and training on sustainability,
chemicals, and plastics. Operating in over 175 countries, Dow has 46,000 compared to 54% of all
others
employees and annual revenue of over $48 billion. Dow’s acclaimed
corporate responsibility and sustainability platform holistically connects the
needs of society and the environment with the needs of the business and
demonstrate Dow’s commitment to the principles of Responsible Care, a
voluntary, global framework that promotes safe, sustainable, and profitable
goals and actions within the chemical industry.
Dow’s sustainability platform is as broad as it is robust and involves
commitments to building relationships in the communities within which it
operates, reducing overall environmental impacts, innovating for improved
product stewardship, and working aggressively to meet global challenges
related to climate change, energy and water, and the Millennium
Development Goals. Dow has articulated an array of sustainability goals to
be achieved by 2015. They revolve around the three themes of:
• Collaborate. Dow has established a series of aggressive goals to
ensure environmental and community health, safety, and success
that include such things as community development projects and a
75% improvement in key EHS performance indicators. By working
closely with local stakeholders, Dow has set out a clearly defined
and tracked roadmap to achieve enhanced relations, performance,
and partnerships that improve overall community quality of life.
• Innovate. Dow takes a holistic, life-cycle, and cradle-to-cradle
approach to product stewardship that will, by 2015, put into place
public disclosure and transparency processes on comprehensive
safety assessments and product risk characterizations of all of its
products, globally. Further, Dow’s goals and actions focus on
creating solutions and breakthroughs to meet global challenges
with sustainable chemistry.
continued


Page 13

• Elevate. Dow has contributed solutions geared to meet global
energy and climate change challenges since 1990 and has taken on
a series of goals that include a 25% reduction in energy intensity
from 2005 to 2015, initiatives to slow, stop, and reverse global
warming, advocacy for policy, and thought leadership around the
adoption of sustainable practices. Dow’s strategic goals for
superior business sustainability and corporate responsibility were
challenged by a lack of a unified, integrated platform to easily track,
analyze, and report on its enterprise-wide, EHS performance
across its 200 facilities in the United States. The company had
multiple and redundant legacy reporting systems hindered by
inefficient interoperability and a lack of standardized best practices
across its many facilities.
In 2004, the Dow Environmental Reporting Project was charted to find and
deliver a powerful, multi-media tracking and reporting solution for 200
facilities across the United States. Dow implemented an integrated
software solution that incorporates tracking, analysis, and reporting on air,
waste, water, and chemical inventory performance, and that further
allowed them to:
• Enable the interoperability of existing enterprise systems across
the corporation
• Develop and standardized best practices with a powerful, unified
reporting system across its large U.S. facilities
• Replace the numerous legacy reporting systems
With the full engagement of stakeholders and leadership, a team of experts
were assembled to direct the due diligence review, design, and
implementation of the solution. The software solution allowed them to
automate data capture, have interoperability, and streamline processes
with templates, ad hoc query tools, uploaders, and interfaces.
The system allowed them to have a centralized support structure that
users could engage by role and responsibility across all US sites, which
eliminated the need for redundant systems, support roles, and structural
costs. To support the process changes, the team developed an impressive
training and education initiative that included videos and training
documentation for Dow’s intranet.
In addition to enabling consistent performance tracking, analysis, and
communication of its sustainability goals related to its EHS performance,
Dow also achieved the following results:
• Elimination of over $2 Million in redundant legacy reporting
systems
continued


Page 14

• Preservation of Dow license to operate in 200 facilities at 35
manufacturing sites
• Enhanced sustainability of its business through a common work
process and interoperability with existing corporate systems
• Improved data quality and availability for business decision making,
analysis, and reporting

Competitive Assessment
Aberdeen Group analyzed the aggregated metrics of surveyed companies to
determine whether their performance ranked as Best-in-Class, Industry
Average, or Laggard. In addition to having common performance levels, each
class also shared characteristics in five key categories:
1. Process. The approaches they take to formulating and executing
policies that apply to their daily operations
2. Organization. Corporate focus and collaboration among
stakeholders
3. Knowledge Management. Contextualizing data and exposing it
to key stakeholders
4. Technology. The selection of appropriate tools and effective
deployment of those tools
5. Performance Management. The ability of the organization to
measure its results to improve its business

Table 3: The Competitive Framework
Best-in-Class Average Laggards
Sustainability criteria are integrated into supply chain strategy
63% 42% 37%
Formal energy reduction policy has been developed and
implemented
Process
56% 50% 42%
Efforts to reduce paper consumption have been formalized
and implemented
63% 53% 35%
Executive-level leader (or team) is responsible for company-
wide sustainability initiative
78% 72% 44%
Organization
Corporate Responsibility has been integrated into human
resources strategy
56% 44% 33%


Page 15

Best-in-Class Average Laggards
Real-time visibility into sustainability conformance across
value chain
30% 17% 5%
Knowledge Successes, challenges, and progress of sustainability initiatives
are communicated to internal stakeholders monthly or more
frequently
52% 47% 37%
Technology currently in use:
26% Role-based 17% Role-based 12% Role-based
sustainability / sustainability / sustainability /
green green green
dashboards dashboards dashboards
37% automated 19% automated 12% automated
sustainability sustainability sustainability
reporting reporting reporting
41% Carbon 32% Carbon 19% Carbon
footprint footprint footprint
modeling modeling modeling
Technology 67% Traceability 52% Traceability 32% Traceability
Solutions Solutions Solutions
72% On-line 56% On-line 42% On-line
dashboards dashboards dashboards
80% Quality or 70% Quality or 63% Quality or
Process Process Process
Management Management Management
Solutions Solutions Solutions
76% 60% 54% "Our goal is to improve the
Sustainability / Sustainability / Sustainability / company's overall use of
CR management CR management CR management resources, resulting in lower
solutions solutions solutions cost of product and distribution
Third-party verification of sustainability or Corporate to improve competitiveness. A
Responsibility performance side benefit is environmental
stewardship which will be used
Performance 41% 32% 14%
in the sales and marketing
Carbon Footprint is tracked process. Standard practices will
41% 39% 30% be challenged and revised
through input from a large
Source: Aberdeen Group, May 2009 group of employees. The ideas
foster innovative solutions to
Capabilities and Enablers improvements to the
corporation as a whole. This all
Based on the findings of the Competitive Framework and interviews with clearly ties to acceptance
end-users, Aberdeen reveals that the Best-in-Class have visibility into, and within the local community, the
proactive management of, key policy-driven process and performance areas government, and attracts new
that tie together internal and external activities and goals. Top performers customers."
are decidedly more focused on data analytics and carbon and have robust ~ Vice President, Large North
levels of leadership and educational initiatives to support their goals. American Chemical Company


Page 16

Process
As the top strategic action of Best-in-Class companies involves the
integration of sustainability metrics into value-chain performance
management (44%), it is not surprising to see Best-in-Class with better
defined policies, which are in turn integrated into their supply chain strategy.
In addition, efficiency and process optimization-driven programs such as
Lean and Six Sigma also come in line with sustainability standards and goals.
Fifty-two percent (52%) of the Best-in-Class versus 38% of all others have
already implemented this approach to business excellence. Likewise, 41% of
the Best-in-Class have integrated sustainability criteria into formal risk
analyses – a further indication of the increasing centrality of sustainability to
overarching corporate strategy.
Sustainability impacts process improvements related to the management of
resources, particularly of energy and paper – two key areas for driving
down costs and negative environmental impacts. Not only are the Best-in-
Class significantly more likely to focus on their supply chain strategy (63%
versus 40%) but they are also more likely to have an organization-wide
sustainability policy (74% versus 58%) supported by stakeholder education
(67% versus 54%). The combination of holistic policy and formalized
stakeholder education creates clear standards, goals, and metrics against
which to track, analyze, and communicate performance and understand
corporate successes and challenges. The Best-in-Class understand that the
way in which the company sets goals and measures sustainability success
should be clear, consistent, and formally conveyed. This approach also
allows organizations to assess and maintain the preparedness of its people.

Organization
Top organizations are differentiated by their greater commitment to
appointing executive leadership to champion sustainability. Seventy-two
percent (72%) of the Best-in-Class are able to boast a C-level executive in
charge of the success of their agenda. This is a robust area of advantage for
top performing firms as only 58% of all other companies have this level of
leadership guiding their sustainability strategy. The Best-in-Class are also
significantly more likely to have integrated their core values and actions
related to sustainability into their Human Resources strategy (76% versus
40%). The relevance of stakeholder management is a key aspect of Best-in-
Class outcomes. Compared to all others, the Best-in-Class have an
impressive set of capabilities related to organizational structure.
Though there are many thought leading organizations that were founded
with efficiency and standards of social and environmental stewardship
already integrated into their identity and strategy, the vast majority of
companies struggle to enact not only meaningful process changes but also
meaningful organizational culture and behavior changes. Interviews
conducted with respondents have revealed that thought leading companies
have incorporated such things as company paid / supported employee
volunteer time, sustainable offsite work space, CR-focused incentives, and
local and global development programs that attract and satisfy their people.
C-level champions work throughout the organization to ensure that the

Page 17

standards and goals of the company are effectively tailored and integrated
into the business units and relationship networks of the firm.

Knowledge Management
An enterprise-wide commitment to sustainability initiatives comes from a Abbreviations Defined:
broad-based knowledge of the program and its impact on the person, the
company, society, and the planet. Though nowhere near as well-developed √ RoHS: Restriction of
as it should be, the Best-in-Class are farther along the path of implementing Hazardous Substances
Directive
effective knowledge management capabilities, with 37% utilizing scorecards
to convey performance standards and outcomes to both internal and √ WEEE: Waste Electrical and
external stakeholders, versus 22% of all others. For 30% of top performers Electronic Equipment
(versus just 11% of all others) access to real-time information on
√ JGPSSI: Japan Green
sustainability-related conformance catalyzes a superior level of visibility and
Procurement Survey
proactive management capabilities that enable the organization to easily Standardization Initiative
convey not only successes but also challenges / areas of opportunity.

Case Study — Tomkins plc
Tomkins plc is a global engineering and manufacturing group, listed on the
London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, manufacturing
and distributing a variety of industrial, automotive and building products.
With annual sales over $5 billion and more than 32,000 employees, it is a
multi-national company serving these markets across North America,
Europe, Asia and the Rest of the World. According to the company’s third
annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report at Tomkins, social
responsibility is an integral part of its every day business practices and one
of the drivers of its success.
As part of this initiative, Tomkins has implemented an HSE [Health, Safety
and Environment] excellence award program. Participation in this process is
not voluntary for its manufacturing locations, but is optional for distribution
sites, warehouses and sales offices. However many of these non-
manufacturing locations choose to participate. “In order to participate,
locations must submit Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). We designed the
program so it provided reporting back to the participating locations in
order for them to derive benefits and improve their performance. We
included the usual sustainability metrics plus we encourage Continuous
Improvement programs. Each location must submit sustainable goals,” said
Amy Wright, Director, Environmental Management, Health and Safety.
To support these initiatives Tomkins implemented a Business Performance
Management solution focused on environmental, health and safety. “Prior to
implementing this solution we had a number of other data bases and three
to four applications in use. Trying to collect and manage data from 150
locations around the world was very difficult. We wanted a system pliable
enough to give us a centralized data base from which we could aggregate
the data from all our sites. Today all users can submit data and access
information in the same form and format. This makes it far easier to analyze
and report back.”
continued


Page 18

Case Study — Tomkins plc
Some of the sustainability metrics reported in Tomkins annual CSR Report
included total waste, landfill waste, total energy consumed, water
consumption and total greenhouse gas emissions. Most of the 150 locations
(127 to 132) are reporting on these various KPIs and more. “The system
helped us break out all energy related usage to help us determine who our
highest energy consumers were. It helped us make business decisions on
where we get the biggest bang for our buck in energy efficiency
improvements. Plant managers can now look at the results and say, ‘I didn’t
know I used that much natural gas. I didn’t realize how much I could save by
turning off the gas pilots in the summer.’ All this data now shows up on a
dashboard and managers can see all the components of their energy
profile.”
Tomkins is pleased with the progress achieved through its CSR program
and feels it is a means to engage employees around the world in support of
the environment, health, safety and sustainability. In light of the challenging
economic and financial pressures, Tomkins believes that excellence in CSR
is consistent with and enhances financial performance.

Technology “We are trying to incorporate
A wide variety of technology solutions may come into play in the context of sustainable business strategies
sustainability, but they tend fall into a manageable number of general into our core business and
categories. A selected few of these categories were previously listed in product planning. We believe
Table 3 with higher adoption rates observed in Best-in-Class companies. that, in addition to it being the
right thing to do, it is also just
Compliance and traceability go hand-in-hand and require detail data good, smart business – and is the
collection to preserve lot genealogy and produce compliance reporting. way successful business will
Given today's current economic conditions, the changing regulatory climate, compete and survive with energy
and the impact of product recalls, sustainability objectives only add to the and raw material costs rising.
reasons compliance and traceability efforts have been elevated in Sustainable business reduces
importance. A whole host of technologies support these efforts from the costs, improves efficiency,
plant or shop floor to the highest level of the enterprise. These solutions reduces waste, and improves
profitability. The challenges
range from Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) to Enterprise Asset continue to be to make this a
Management to Quality Management to Nonconformance / Corrective and core component of our business
Preventive Action (NC / CAPA) to Statistical Process Control and others. culture and not an initiative that
While many of these solutions hold a very traditional place in manufacturing, is on the periphery. We are
sustainable production is a new focus for many companies in an attempt to taking a broad view of these
initiatives and have focused on
make operations cleaner, safer, more energy efficient, and more
four key areas: environmentally
competitive, and therefore require a new twist and a new focus to these preferable product development,
more traditional solutions. In addition, specialty solutions have emerged to waste reduction and recycling,
manage carbon emissions and carbon models for green house gas emissions. energy, and climate and
These are not yet pervasively used. While Best-in-Class are more than environmental education.”
twice as likely to be able to model carbon footprints and track emissions,
~ Mark Buckley, VP,
more than half (59%) have yet to take this step in their sustainability
Environmental Affairs, Staples
agendas.


Page 19

But in considering the ROI of sustainability, performance management is at
the very heart of building the business case. Many of the technology tools
used by the Best-in-Class serve to increase visibility and performance
improvement. From dashboards (72%) to sustainability CR management
solutions (76%), the Best-in-Class go to great lengths to achieve a holistic
view of company-wide, sustainability performance and outcomes. Yet the
majority still relies on manual efforts for sustainability reporting, with only
37% of top performers indicating the reporting is automated.
True Best-in-Class sustainability is a matter of business being responsive to
both internal and external dynamically changing needs and expectations. The
ability of multiple levels of stakeholders to track, analyze, and communicate
both financial and non-financial information related to environmental, social,
and operational performance through the prism of responsibility and
efficiency results in greater visibility, agility, and proactive performance
improvement for the business.

Performance Management
Results of this study indicate that top performing organizations are more
holistic and quantitative in focus and demonstrate a more strategic approach
to their initiatives. Further, the Best-in-Class focus on measurement in
order to better manage company-wide performance. Sound management
practices include collaboration, communication, and constant adjustment
and reinvestment in improvements as needs and solutions develop. Without
this type of visibility and proactive management, sustainability could, for the
majority of companies, remain narrowly understood and not well
implemented, resulting in companies leaving a good deal of money,
opportunity, and innovation on the table. This improved management and
tracking of performance allows companies to effectively communicate and
connect with partners and customers in ways that deliver competitive
advantages in the market.
The Best-in-Class are significantly more likely to measure their performance
and to utilize third-party validation of their sustainability performance (41%
versus 23% of all others). This extra step provides not only credibility but
also practical support as the organization engages with an experienced
partner who can help assess progress and prioritize next steps. The result is
their ability to not only effectively track, manage, and report on
sustainability performance, but to provide verification of their sustainable
and corporate social responsibility programs for stakeholders, customers
and trading partners.
Aberdeen Insights — Technology

Respondents in this study were asked about the types of technology they either currently use or
plan to implement. In addition to indicating short-term areas of focus, companies were also able
to indicate that they had no planned implementations for a variety of technology categories. The
significance of the areas of no planned implementations lies in the fact that Laggard organizations
are least likely to invest in precisely the areas that most catalyze Best-in-Class success.
continued


Page 20

Aberdeen Insights — Technology

Solutions that increase visibility, performance management, and the ability to communicate
verifiable progress are typically of substantially lower interest for Laggard organizations than for
the Best-in-Class and, in some instances, Average organizations. Table 4 is, as a result, instructive
for organizations needing to decide where to start their investigation of technology categories to
aid them with their sustainability goals.

Table 4: "No Plans to Invest" Vary by Maturity Class
Best-in- Industry
No Plans to Use Laggard
Class Average
Business Intelligence / Performance Management solutions 11% 19% 35%
Scorecards 15% 29% 33%
Role-based dashboards 15% 18% 30%
Energy Management software 19% 26% 47%
Supply Chain Visibility platforms 19% 24% 40%
Asset Management software 22% 38% 47%
Energy / Fuel calculators 22% 28% 33%
Assessment solution or service 22% 26% 42%
Sustainability / CR management solutions 26% 31% 42%
Carbon tracking 26% 33% 56%
Carbon Modeling 26% 28% 37%
Visibility solutions 26% 29% 42%
Carbon / emissions calculators 30% 31% 54%


Page 21

Chapter Three:
Required Actions
Whether a company is trying to move its performance from Laggard to Fast Facts
Industry Average, or Industry Average to Best-in-Class, the following √ Best-in-Class are 40% more
recommendations will help spur the necessary performance improvements: likely to focus on carbon
footprint reduction as a
Steps to Success for All Companies measure of success

• Measure so you can manage. From the Best-in-Class to the √ 72% of Best-in-Class use web-
Average and Laggard organizations, the need to expand based dashboards compared to
performance measurement and communication cannot be over- 56% of Industry Average and
42% of Laggard firms
emphasized. As is often said, it clearly stands repeating: you cannot
manage what you don't measure and all maturity classes should
focus on improving in that respect. Areas of key focus should
include those related to carbon and energy as the impacts of
reduction provide a bevy of opportunities to most effectively "It's a new area of engagement
improve operational efficiencies as well as build a path toward social that requires new infusion of
and environmental stewardship. knowledge and technology. The
change process should open door
• Adopt role-based dashboards. All classes also stand to gain
to new way of thinking and
crucial visibility and analytic capabilities into their impacts and areas innovation. We have taken on
of opportunity by expanding the adoption of role-based dashboards, server virtualization, replacement
tailored to the complex needs of sustainability and CR goals and of lighting and air conditioning
challenges. equipment and education of staff
in energy management. Social and
environmental stewardship is a
Laggard Steps to Success part of corporate governance
• Get some leadership. In order for sustainability efforts to achieve strategy that is incorporate in
both immediate and sustained results, leadership and commitment partner and customer
from the top of the organization is a must. It is extremely difficult to relationship management."
implement changes in strategy, processes, and communication ~ Director, Small South East
without the buy-in and support of true budget and authority Asian Computer Company
holders. The Laggard organizations included in this study have
sustainability programs in place and are investing in their initiatives.
The likelihood of wasting those investments is great without a clear
understanding from the top of the objectives, the impacts, and the
benefits of its initiatives.
• Adopt organization-wide policy and standards. The lack of
leadership in Laggard organizations unsurprisingly correlates to the
lack of organization-wide vision articulated as policy. Without a
cohesive and consistent standard and protocol, various business
units and facilities can more easily enact a disjointed, and even
contrary, approach to sustainability. Less than half of Laggards have
formalized energy reduction policies or integrated sustainability
criteria into their supply chain strategies. Laggard organizations need
to be able to convey to its stakeholders, not only the larger mission
but also the way in which sustainability-driven adjustments to day-
to-day practices support corporate goals.

Page 22

• Educate your stakeholders. In line with the previous two
Laggard recommendations, companies that invest in formal training
and education of stakeholders demonstrate better performance
overall. With formal awareness and training on the larger mission,
new processes, and organizational protocols, employees can not
only comply but also boost productivity and innovate.

Industry Average Steps to Success
• Establish real-time visibility. Industry Average organizations
should focus their efforts on increasing real-time visibility into core
operational areas. Currently only 17% of Average companies have
role-based access to sustainability information through dashboards.
Real-time access to consolidated performance data will help
Industry Average organizations move from reactive to proactive
regarding their internal stakeholders and trading partners.
Immediate access to performance data is an important component
to initiative areas such as collaboration, energy usage, and risk
analysis.
• Adopt auto-reporting capabilities. Streamlined reporting
capabilities will aid Industry Average organizations in achieving top
performance by consolidating and presenting an array of complex
and dispersed information in a user friendly format. Organizations
with such capabilities are able to participate in one, or several,
standardized reporting protocols in a highly efficient manner.
Further, the ability to make sustainability performance data quickly
and easily available for internal as well as external stakeholders and
interested parties is a major step toward achieving the transparency
and good governance required for stewardship and thought
leadership.

Best-in-Class Steps to Success
• Enhance stakeholder communication. The top performing
organizations in this study still have significant room for
improvement. The Best-in-Class stand to gain by further engaging
their stakeholders with a greater rate of communication. The ability
to keep employees informed and sharing ideas around company-
wide successes, challenges, priorities, and areas of opportunity
greatly enhance the productive exchange of ideas, innovation, and
momentum. The operational efficiencies that have led to
dramatically reduced costs, lowered environmental impact, and
greater rates of customer retention are just some of the benefits
available to top performing organizations. A company's people are
its greatest resource, making its competitive advantage possible. The
Best-in-Class should focus on increasing the cohesion and
effectiveness of its organization, and that begins with regular
communication with its people.


Page 23

• Expand the use of scorecards. While the Best-in-Class are 43%
more likely than all others to utilize scorecards, more than half
(56%) still do not. The recurring theme of these findings is that the
Best-in-Class are holistically organized around clear policies aligned
with short- and long-term goals and objectives. Performance
management applied to the topic of sustainability creates a
quantifiable and verifiable manner with which to optimize the
performance of the entire value chain. Scorecards are a significant
aid for stakeholders, both internal and external, and trading
partners as well as employees are increasingly required to meet
sustainability criteria. Scorecards effectively inform stakeholders of
their progress and serve as a basis for improvement.
Aberdeen Insights — Summary

The results of Aberdeen research show that a rapidly growing number of organizations view sustainability as
an essential component of the long-term viability and success of their business and are seeking to integrate
responsibility-driven strategy into their organizational DNA. Regardless of industry, geography, or company
size, sustainability requires organizations to change and innovate in fundamental ways that support a genuine
and holistic engagement on issues encompassing the business, the environment, and society.
While quantified cost and client outcomes tell one story about the impact of sustainability on the business,
there persists an idea that sustainability outcomes are “soft,” “intangible,” or somehow at odds with being
profitable. This may seem true at first glance, as popularly held rationales for sustainability are often linked
to the idea that companies should focus on sustainability in order to generously “do good.” Yet, Aberdeen
research has repeatedly shown that well-implemented and managed sustainability strategy strengthens a
business ecosystem on multiple and concretely demonstrable levels.
Findings also show that the difficulty in demonstrating the ROI of sustainability is often a matter of
inefficiency and inactivity around tracking, measuring, and communicating sustainability progress, successes,
challenges, and areas of opportunity. The practices that encompass both qualitative and quantitative analysis
and engagement create a competitive advantage for the Best-in-Class. Based on results from the Best-in-
Class in this study – and from the goals and strategies of over 6,000 other companies worldwide – it is clear
that initiatives need to be:
• Comprehensive. A deep understanding of the company definition of, strategy for, and progress
towards, its vision of sustainable success is essential. Philosophical and practical clarity supported by
education and training will aid the success of the larger goals.
• Collaborative. Working collaboratively, internally and externally, allows a superior level of
visibility, innovation, and agility in addressing issues that may compromise the goals of an initiative
and the larger challenges to which they connect.
• Controlled. Executive-level support and oversight of enterprise-wide sustainability objectives
combined with clear performance metrics and tracking will allow the company to understand its
challenges and successes in ways that are quantifiable and verifiable.
• Communicated. Communication is essential to stimulate internal and external stakeholder
interest and support. Aligning the brand publicly with genuine commitment and action can also boost
brand value and create thought leadership.


Page 24

Appendix A:
Research Methodology
Between January and February 2009, Aberdeen examined the use, the Study Focus
experiences, and the intentions of more than 200 enterprises focused on
Responding sustainability-
implementing or expanding sustainability strategy and initiatives. Aberdeen focused executives completed
supplemented this online survey effort with telephone interviews with select an online survey that included
survey respondents, gathering additional information on strategies, questions designed to
experiences, and results. determine the following:
Responding enterprises included the following: √ The way in which
sustainability strategy is
• Job title / function: The research sample included respondents with crafted, implemented, and
the following job functions: C-level / VP / Partner (33%); Director / managed across the
General Manager (17%); Manager (19%); Consultant / Analyst (14%); organization
Academic (4%); Staff (4%), all others (9%).
√ The level of present and
• Industry: The research sample included respondents from the planned investment in
following industries: IT (consulting services, software / hardware) solutions and services in
(16%), transportation / logistics (6%), consumer packaged goods support of 2009
(5%), food / beverage (5%), metals and metal products (5%), sustainability priorities and
automotive (4%), construction / architecture (4%), general goals
sustainability (4%), all others (51%). √ The structure and alignment
• Geography: The majority of respondents (63%) were from North of performance tracking and
reporting with key
America. Remaining respondents were from Europe (20%), the
performance indicators
Asia-Pacific region (10%), South / Central America and Caribbean
(3%), and Middle East, Africa (4%). √ Current and planned use of
technology in support of
• Company size: Thirty-two percent (32%) of respondents were from sustainability strategy
large enterprises (annual revenues above US $1 billion); 30% were
from midsize enterprises (annual revenues between $50 million and The study aimed to identify
$1 billion); and 38% of respondents were from small businesses emerging best practices for
(annual revenues of $50 million or less). company-wide sustainability
strategy and implementation
• Headcount: Half (50%) of the respondents were from large and management, and to
enterprises (headcount greater than 1,000 employees); 27% were provide a framework by which
from midsize enterprises (headcount between 100 and 999 readers could assess their own
employees); and 23% of respondents were from small businesses capabilities.
(headcount between 1 and 99 employees).


Page 25

Table 5: The PACE Framework Key
Overview
Aberdeen applies a methodology to benchmark research that evaluates the business pressures, actions, capabilities,
and enablers (PACE) that indicate corporate behavior in specific business processes. These terms are defined as
follows:
Pressures — external forces that impact an organization’s market position, competitiveness, or business
operations (e.g., economic, political and regulatory, technology, changing customer preferences, competitive)
Actions — the strategic approaches that an organization takes in response to industry pressures (e.g., align the
corporate business model to leverage industry opportunities, such as product / service strategy, target markets,
financial strategy, go-to-market, and sales strategy)
Capabilities — the business process competencies required to execute corporate strategy (e.g., skilled people,
brand, market positioning, viable products / services, ecosystem partners, financing)
Enablers — the key functionality of technology solutions required to support the organization’s enabling business
practices (e.g., development platform, applications, network connectivity, user interface, training and support,
partner interfaces, data cleansing, and management)

Table 6: The Competitive Framework Key
Overview

The Aberdeen Competitive Framework defines enterprises In the following categories:
as falling into one of the following three levels of practices Process — What is the scope of process
and performance: standardization? What is the efficiency and
Best-in-Class (20%) — Practices that are the best effectiveness of this process?
currently being employed and are significantly superior to Organization — How is your company currently
the Industry Average, and result in the top industry organized to manage and optimize this particular
performance. process?
Industry Average (50%) — Practices that represent the Knowledge — What visibility do you have into key
average or norm, and result in average industry data and intelligence required to manage this process?
performance. Technology — What level of automation have you
Laggards (30%) — Practices that are significantly behind used to support this process? How is this automation
the average of the industry, and result in below average integrated and aligned?
performance. Performance — What do you measure? How
frequently? What’s your actual performance?


Table 7: The Relationship Between PACE and the Competitive Framework
PACE and the Competitive Framework – How They Interact
Aberdeen research indicates that companies that identify the most influential pressures and take the most
transformational and effective actions are most likely to achieve superior performance. The level of competitive
performance that a company achieves is strongly determined by the PACE choices that they make and how well they
execute those decisions.


The ROI of Sustainability

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to The ROI of Sustainability

Similar to The ROI of Sustainability (20)

More from FindWhitePapers

More from FindWhitePapers (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

The ROI of Sustainability